There are several target devices available to sportsmen which are intended to provide sporting enjoyment and/or which can be used to improve the skill level of the participant. A dart board or a target for pistol or rifle shooting come to mind. The targets used in these devices are penetrated by a projectile and thus provide an indication of the position thereon that has been struck by the projectile. Eventually, targets of this type are destroyed by the projectiles.
There are other games which employ game pieces that are projected towards a target, and which are played on a larger scale than, for example, the game of darts. The team sports of hockey, baseball, and lacrosse are examples of games using small projectiles which are propelled at high speed towards a target zone, whether the zone be a goal as in hockey and lacrosse, or a strike zone as in baseball. The projectile must be shot or thrown (pitched) with a high degree of accuracy in order to reward the player with a goal or a strike as the case may be. Usually the player has to practice long and hard in order to hone his skills to the point where he can be confident that his shot or pitch will result in a goal or a strike. Furthermore, since the goal in hockey or lacrosse is protected by an opposing player (the "goalie"), and since the strike zone in baseball is also protected by a opposing player (the "batter"), the shooter or the pitcher must take the opposing player into account with his shot or his pitch. He must send his projectile towards the spot in the target zone where he anticipates that the opponent will not be positioned, so that he has a fair chance of succeeding with a goal or a strike.
There are numerous devices available which can be used by a hockey player, for example, to enable him to practice the accuracy of his shot. Such devices can be found for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,842 or in Soviet Patent No. 961,719. The former requires a lane structure with a frame at one end simulating a net. A target at each corner has a light associated therewith which when illuminated indicates the target to be shot at. The target is pivotally connected to the frame and has a switch that when struck by the target will turn the light out to signal a hit on the target. The latter patent has a frame with a plurality of nets therein, each of which is associated with a signal light that is lit up when a projectile is caught in the net. Both of these devices are intended for "dry land" training of an athlete and do not adequately simulate a game situation where the player may be moving as he is shooting.
There is a need for a more sophisticated target apparatus that can be used by a player to simulate game situations and which can be used anywhere, including on the "playing field", just as the real goal or target would be used. Also, there is a need for apparatus that will withstand the rigors of high impact shots in the order of 100 miles per hour, as can be attained by major league hockey and baseball players. The present invention addresses both of these needs.